We can break down a designer’s work into three main steps: comprehension, vision, and materialization – and all these abilities are sustained by the most important skill of all: communication. But while that’s true, we still often find ourselves using too many words, going around certain topics and generating entropy. The result? More working hours, extra meetings, scope addendums and… frustrated clients.

Speaking clearly takes effort: it takes time to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand that they’re not reading your mind or seeing the vision that’s inside your head; but it can spare us a lot of work, time and money. Clarity should be the default, whether we’re sending an email to our clients or having feedback sessions with our colleagues. Setting clear goals and expectations will just make everyone’s lives easier. And that’s true for any conversation, including when talking about budget: if we are transparent about rates and costs, we allow others to feel comfortable enough to do the same.

Being clear about the scope, setting specific goals and sharing a predicted timeline for the project at hand helps us build an honest trusting working relationship. And if things change? Well, if you’re keeping frequent touchpoints and not presenting “Kinder surprise solutions” (you know, the "everything’s already done and the client was never involved let’s hope they like it presentations"?), everyone will be in the loop and if things get a little out of hand, you can make decisions together. Keeping it clear just makes our jobs easier – we just need to also remember to do it kindly.